What was the name of that amazing restaurant on the Amalfi Coast?

Greeting virtual travelers! Have you taken some amazing trips that you wish you remembered in better detail? It’s frustrating when I forget the name of a restaurant where I had an incredible meal. Or the location of the quaint shop I stumbled upon that had the most unique souvenirs. You get the picture. I like to live in the moment when I’m traveling for pleasure but capturing important memories is key to reliving the trip for many years after returning home.

With travel on hold for now, I’ve been thinking about how to better remember the finer details and enjoy favorite memories of my trips. I haven’t made any decisions on how to improve my system but share my ideas with you in case something inspires you.

Reliving Travel Memories

Photos and Video

With myriads of products on the market, there are many ways to enjoy travel photos from the traditional frames/photo albums or a digital picture frame where you load your photos and the images change. Less common ideas include puzzles, coffee mugs, calendars, socks, decks of cards, paperweights, lampshades, pillows, plates, and bookmarks. We recently purchased a digital picture frame, and it’s a fun thing to have on a side table.

For travel videos, we use a GoPro and an iPhone with the Boomerang App for our travels. When we get home, we put our photos into Prime Photo and create a slideshow we can watch anytime. We tend to keep it pretty simple with video but think we need to up our game a bit.

Souvenirs

Do you buy the same souvenir everywhere you travel? Christmas ornaments, tee shirts, and dishcloths are popular. I like buying a reusable bag because it’s a sustainable purchase and often I can find one made and sold by locals to support their community. Another idea is a postcard that you write to yourself and mail home. That way, you’ll have a stamp/postmark too and an account of a favorite travel memory. Kids love this activity!

Travel journals – paper and online

For people who love to write, travel journals are the perfect purchase. There are kids’ versions with question prompts that make awesome gifts. I think every child should have a travel journal for the trips they take before they head off to college. If you’d rather keep paragraphs to a minimum, capture memories with sketches and “bullet” journal techniques.

Online travel journals can be an enhancement of the itinerary. We use Travefy for our clients’ itineraries which is a very visually appealing and easy to access app. There are other apps like Tripcast and Driftr that are a combination journal and itinerary. For planning and brainstorming, a free Trello or Pinterest board is very useful for anytime an idea strikes and later use as a reference after the trip.

Travel pin map

I’ve been meaning to check out the best version of this product. I love the idea of a world map I can put on the wall of my office with pins showing where I’ve been, and color-coded to note places on my travel bucket list.

Wanderlist

Speaking of travel bucket lists, Wanderlist is an amazing, new product that inspires you to map out where you want to go when travel opens up again. If you scroll down from this email, you’ll see more information. In a nutshell, it’s “Netflix for travel planners.” It’s a fun family activity and your personalized plan will amaze you! And of course, you’ll have a robust record of your bucket list vacations. Reach out for more information so you can #DreamNowTravelLater.

A new family tradition?

How about a dedicated family travel memory night twice a year with popcorn and the souvenirs you bought? For a twist, look at photos and videos from summer vacations in winter and winter vacations in summer. Get the kids involved or put an older kid in charge as the official family memory keeper.

How do you keep your travel memories alive? I’d be excited to hear your ideas and/or see them shared on our social pages.

Don’t stop dreaming – when the world opens again, I’ll be here to help you plan your long-awaited and well-deserved vacation.

Hidden Gem Tip: Hit reply to this email to share your travel memory ideas and traditions! We will happily credit you in a future newsletter 😊

Wishing you and your family continued good health,

Susan

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